Beyond the Darkness
by Phoenix-XIII
Summary: If a Nobody is doomed to fade back into darkness, then what lies beyond the darkness? Sora finds himself working together with Old Friends and Old Enemies in order to defeat a new menace... a man that goes by the name of: Riku?
1. Chapter 1

Beyond the Darkness: I

Thinking of you wherever you are…

He could feel his body getting heavier, being pulled down, under the crushing weight of his sub-consciousness. The lower he sank, the more the darkness began to consume his heart. He felt himself utter the words; '_doomed to fade back… into darkness'_, without even speaking… like a voice in the back of his mind.

_We pray for our sorrows to end, and hope that out hearts will blend._

He recognized this poem. He had heard it once before.

_Starting a new journey might not be so hard._

He wanted to wake up; he could feel his whole body beginning to disappear. He closed his eyes and could feel each part of his body slowly fading away. He had felt like this once before, when he was engulfed with darkness. But this was somehow different.

_One Sky._

_One Destiny._

He stopped. Looking through the murky waters hundreds of fathoms down, and saw nothing, not even the ground he was standing on. He found it harder and harder to breathe, the pressure was crushing his lungs but he was still standing…waiting.

A figure slowly appeared from the depths of the nothingness. In a black cloak. The figure had long hair, the colour was undistinguishable, but somehow his eyes could be seen even through the murky waters. The two green orbs stared at him as he stood, matching the figure's gaze.

Let's meet again in the next life… 

A disembodied voice echoed through the shadows. Once the echoing subsided, the figure finally spoke.

'I'll be waiting." The figure spoke, but his mouth did not move.

"Axel…?" He asked the figure, as he tried to move forward.

After a pause the figure spoke again.

"Behind the darkness we are waiting…watching…" The figure's booming voice echoed through his skull. The figure turned and began to fade… back into the darkness from whence it came.

"Wait!" He cried as he tried to run after him, but the figure was already gone.

"Sora?"

He looked up, in the direction the voice came. This time it was a different voice, a voice that he remembered.

"Sora…?"

The darkness began to crack, light began to shine through.

"Sora!"

The darkness shattered and Sora awoke in a cold sweat. He was breathing heavily as a bead of sweat traced a path down the side of his face. He looked beside his bed to see Kairi standing with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" she asked.

He only stared at her; his breathing was beginning to stabilize.

"Hey, are you alright?" she asked with a concerned look on her face.

He looked at her vibrant blue eyes and smiled.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just had a bad dream is all."

"Alright," she said with a relieved look on her face.

"Riku's waiting for us down at the island. I told him I would come and get you."

Sora looked over at the clock sitting on his night table. The red numbers on the clock read: 1:34.

"Oh no, it's that late already?!"

As he struggled to get out of his bed, he tripped over his blankets and fell face first on the floor. Kairi laughed. Sora looked up at her and smiled again.

"How 'bout you go and I'll meet you guys there?"

"Alright, I'll tell Riku you're on your way." She turned around and left his room.

Sora untangled himself from his bed sheets and made his way slowly to the bathroom.

The cold tiles against his bare feet sent shivers up his spine. He turned on the sink taps and doused his face with cold water. After turning off the water he groped around blindly for the towel and dried his face. He pulled the towel away from his face and caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. Somehow he looked different this morning.

_Waiting…watching…_

He remembered the voice from his dream as it echoed through his mind. He stared at his reflection for several minutes.

Sora was staring at his reflection, though he could tell the eyes looking back at him were not his own.

* * *

Well that was chapter one...I hope everyone Liked it

If you did Like it comments are goooood Commentz Love!

-Phoenix

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

Beyond the Darkness: II

Sora made his way to the island where he was scheduled to meet his friends. As he walked along the beach he could feel the sand moving underneath his shoes.

"Hey, Sora!"

Sora looked up and saw Riku and Kairi sitting by the beach.

"Morning!" He called up to his friends.

"You missed that by about 2 hours." Riku said with a smile. And sure enough he was right, by the time Sora made it out to the island it was passed two in the afternoon. Sora stretched his arms up over his head and, bending backwards, let out a yawn. He could feel his back crack.

"How can you be tired?" Kairi asked him as he jumped up to take his usual spot on the bent tree.

Sora didn't answer. He was entranced by the rolling waves that slowly engulfed the beach. The cool island breeze swept through the trees and caused Sora's hair to blow in front of his eyes.

"Brrr!" Kairi shivered as she brought her hands up to her bare arms in an attempt to counter the cold.

"It's getting colder out! I'm going inside to get a jacket." Neither Sora nor Riku spoke as she left. Riku was now looking out over the vast waters, listening to the breeze in the trees. After several minutes of silence Sora spoke.

"Hey Riku?" Without looking at Sora, Riku uttered a 'hmm?'

"I was just thinking," He moved some of the hair our of his eyes, "do you think it's really over?"

Riku looked up at Sora.

"What do you mean?"

"It's just that, last night I had this dream and well, it got me thinking, can everything really be back to normal?"

For a while Riku said nothing. Before he could think of an answer he could hear Sora rustling through his pockets. He looked up to see him pull out a small blue crystal from his left pocket.

"Hey isn't that…?"

"Yeah… it's the crystal orb that I got from twilight town, the one from Roxas's twilight town…" He held it up to the sun and watched as the light shone through.

"I kept it to remind me…"

"Of what?"

Sora brought his arm down, still staring into the orb.

"As a reminder, of everything that's happened, and that everything is connected… like me and Roxas."

A wave crashed against the rock face of the island, as the breeze swept spray over Sora and Riku.

"What brought all this on all of a sudden."

"Are you sure I'm all still…me?"

Riku's eyes met Sora's; the green colour was much more vibrant in the island sun. Somehow, Sora's blue eyes were not what they used to be.

Riku smiled and with a chuckle asked: "What kind of question is that?"

"I'm serious Riku, what if something happened when Roxas and I came back together, I can't still be the same as I was before!"

"Of course you are, Sora, who else would you be?"

"If I'm still all Sora, then what happened to Roxas?"

This was a question that Riku couldn't answer. He looked out over the waters again. The breeze picked up and his long silver hair was blown out of place.

"Riku!"

"Calm down. Why don't you just tell me about your dream?"

"Well it was really dark and I kept hearing voices… and there was this figure dressed in black."

"Organization XIII?"

"I'm not sure…he said that behind the darkness, they're waiting…"

"Behind the darkness… that doesn't sound like anybody from the Organization."

"Somehow I just don't feel the same."

"And you think that has something to do with Roxas?"

"Maybe…"

Sora began swinging his feet back and forth. As he kicked his heels together grains of sand fell to the ground to join the millions of others that made up the beach.

"Who knows, starting a new journey might not be so hard…" Sora quietly said as he jumped off the tree branch to join Riku on the beach.

"What was that?"

"Oh nothing" Sora said and smiled.

"I'm back!" Sora and Riku turned to see Kairi walking back down the dock wearing a white sweater. She walked past the boys and jumped on the bent tree, taking Sora's seat. Once Kairi returned the conversation between Sora and Riku had died off.

"This is great isn't it," Riku and Sora looked up at Kairi, "Everything's back to the way it's supposed to be. The three of us are back together again."  
"We're home." Riku said as he stretched his arms behind his head.

All three stood in silence as they looked out over the ocean and took in the beautiful scenery. Everything really was back to normal…

* * *

Well Here it is chapter two...I guess it doesnt really start to get interesting until chapter three/four area...oh well...  
Comments are always welcome and appreciated 


	3. Chapter 3

Beyond the Darkness: III

The sun was setting as Sora looked up to the glowing orange sky. The darkness was climbing up the sky, overwhelming the bright colours the sun was emitting over the island.

"I wonder if the other worlds are seeing the same sunset…" Sora quietly asked himself as he looked up at the slowly moving clouds. The breeze from the early afternoon had picked up, and was lightly pushing Sora along the path as he walked towards his home. A sudden gust of wind caught him off guard as he stumbled forward.

"Careful, Sora."

He turned around and saw Kairi standing behind him.

"Oh, hey Kairi."

She quickened her pace to catch up with Sora as he continued walking ahead.

"Is something wrong, you seem kinda off today."

"Oh, it's nothing." He said as he put his hands in his pockets, watching the ground as he walked.

"Hmm… 'Cause it almost seems like you're avoiding me…" Sora stopped abruptly as Kairi continued walking forward.

"I'm not avoiding you, I would never do that!" He said defensively.

"It's not really a big deal, I mean…" She said as she shrugged he shoulders.

"Kairi," Sora reached out and grabbed her wrist, "You know I would never avoid you…" She turned around and looked into Sora's eyes.

"I know you wouldn't," She smiled and pulled her hand away from Sora's, "I didn't really mean it…" They stood in silence for a few moments looking into each other's blue eyes.

"It's getting dark." Sora said as he took one last look up to the setting sun, causing his eyes to water.

"Mind if I walk you home?" Sora asked.

Kairi smiled and nodded. They continued walking in silence as the breeze gently carried them up the street.

After walking Kairi home the sun had set leaving Sora to continue his venture in the darkness. The main road was severely lacking in streetlights making it seem darker than normal, except for the light from the moon and the stars.

Look as hard as you are able… 

"Ansem!" Sora quickly spun around expecting to see Xehanort's heartless standing behind him, instead all he could see was a small cluster of leave dancing through the wind. He stood staring for a several minutes before he let his guard down. He let out a deep sigh and looked up towards the stars. For some reason he felt comfort looking up towards the worlds that he protected from darkness.

"I really must be losing it." He continued walking towards his home. "What is _Wrong_ with me?"

He could see his house light glowing near the end of the street. He made it to the front door, took out his house key, and opened the door. It seemed to be even darker inside his house. He kicked his shoes off at the front door, walking across the cold tiled floor in his socked feet. As he walked through the house he refused to turn on a single light, and instead only listened to the quiet creaking of the floor underneath his feet.

He placed his outstretched hand on a closed door, lightly forcing it open, to reveal the bathroom. He reached around the wall and flicked on the light switch. He could see himself walking into the room since the mirror was hung on the wall opposite of the door. He placed his hands on the edge of the sink and look at himself in the mirror. As he stared at his reflection he began to feel dizzy.

"Uhh…" He brought his hand up to his forehead and closed his eyes. When he opened his eyes they were once again focused on the mirror in front of him. But instead of seeing himself in the mirror it almost looked as if it was Roxas looking back at him. His vision began to fade and all he could see was darkness, his head began to spin and he could no longer feel his body. Before he knew it he was lying unconscious on the floor. He had passed out.

He openned his eyes and found himself in the same place he was the previous night. Back in the murky darkness of his subconscious. He looked around expecting to see the same figure that had shown himself the last time he was here. And sure enough the figure was standing several meters away from him, those same green eyes staring into his heart.

"It's good to see you again, Roxas…"

* * *

Gasp C'est Roxas:O

That's right I used random french words.

So anyway, Sorry if this chapter was a little hard to follow, who knows maybe it wasn't, but right now I seem to have a fever and don't know what I'm saying

I had fun sleeping today and not going to school, but I degress….

Hope you enjoyed this chapter, it was fun to make things fall into place insert devious laugh here

**Cough Cough**

Yes… well then Ta Ta Y'all

-Jenn


	4. Chapter 4

Beyond The Darkness: IV

Roxas stood looking deeply into the darkness at the glowing eyes of the figure.

"Why do you keep bringing me here?"

The figure closed his eyes and it seemed to get darker. Without a word the figure turned and began to slowly walk in the opposite direction.

"Hey, Stop!" Roxas held out his arm. The darkness was different from the last time he was in it; it was much easier to move this time. The sound of his shoes hitting the ground echoed through the emptiness as he ran to catch up with the stranger. As he closed in on the figure he violently grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Tell me why I'm here!" The figure stopped abruptly as Roxas held onto his clothes. He recognized the cloak that the figure was wearing as the garb of the nobodies from Organization XIII, similar to the cloak that he once wore. Still the figure said nothing.

"Hey, Answer me!" Roxas tightened his grip on the stranger's shoulder, his knuckles whitening.

Without turning the figure quietly spoke under his breath, uttering only a single word.

"Temper."

"What?" Roxas roughly pulled at his shoulder, turning the figure around to face him. He could no longer see the glowing green eyes underneath the hood. He slowly took his hand off the figure's shoulder, feeling uneasy about what he had just done. Before Roxas could even see him move, the figure had grabbed him by the throat.

The figure stood about a foot taller than Roxas, allowing him to easily lift him off the ground. Roxas grabbed for his throat in an attempt to break his hand away, but this attempt was futile; his grip was too strong. He brought Roxas closer to his face as he spoke softly yet distinctly. Each word its own sentence.

"Keep. Your. Temper." Roxas was out of air.

With one final look into his enemy's reddening face, with one fell movement of his hand, the figure threw Roxas across the empty void.

Roxas hit the ground headfirst and slid across its surface. He lingered on the ground breathing heavily trying to regain his lost air. He lifted his head up from the ground to see that the figure was no longer standing in front of him. Could he have thrown Roxas so far that he was no longer visible?

"Behind you."

Before Roxas could stand up the figure violently grabbed his arm and brought him to his feet.

Still clutching Roxas's arm, the figure reached for the hem of his hood, pulling it back to reveal long silver hair. Covering his glowing green eyes, several long pieces of hair fell over the right side of his face.

"Who… are you?"

"You won't learn anything if I just give you all the answers."

The figure used his free hand to brush stray strands of hair out of his eyes. He smiled. The stranger looked rather young, no older than sixteen. His skin was very pale and he looked slightly feminine. The tips of the hair covering his face were coloured a dark blue, contrasting the paleness of his skin.

"But…" he gently released his grip on Roxas's arm, "if you can defeat me, I might reconsider."

Roxas took his chance and moved out of range of the mysterious enemy.  
"Oh so it's a fight you're looking for? Alright, I accept your challenge!"

--

"I found him like this when I came in. I'm really starting to worry about him, Riku."

Kairi crouched on the tiled floor next to Sora's unconscious body.

"What're you worried for, he probably just fell asleep there." Riku stood above Sora with his arms cross over his chest.

"It's not just that. He's been acting strange ever since you two came back to the islands."

"Well it is a pretty big change…" Riku knelt down beside Sora and placed him hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, wake up!"

He shook Sora but there was no response.

"Hey, Kairi's worried about you so you'd better wake up."

But still no response. Sora continued to lay motionless on the floor, both of his friends leaning over him, trying to bring him back.

--

Roxas hit the ground hard, losing Oathkeeper as it slid across the floor. The man walked to the keyblade and picked it up.

"That wasn't much of a challenge at all." He turned Oathkeeper over in his hands.

Roxas was on his back breathing heavily after being continuously struck down by his opponent. His one remaining keyblade was held tightly in his grasp. The figure slowly walked over to Roxas, dragging the keyblade carelessly across the ground.

"I thought you were going to give me a good fight." He picked Roxas up by the collar of his shirt.

"Stand up."

Roxas staggered as he tried to stand his ground.

"If you still want, I can tell you why you're here."

The man looked up into the blackened sky and held up his hand. The darkness seemed to coil around his arm as it began to form into a weapon.

"Or," Roxas was transfixed by the creation of the weapon, "I can tell you how to get out."

Roxas stood for a moment with a dazed look in his eyes, staring at his enemy's new Shadow-blade.

"I'm not… running away." He finally said with a determined look in his eyes.

"Don't be stupid you know you can't beat me. And now…" The man again summoned the darkness as it bent and contorted to his will. The absence of light wrapped itself around the keyblade, choking any essence of light that was in the vicinity. In the blink of an eye, Oathkeeper had been consumed and destroyed by the darkness. Roxas was mystified.

"…You are without one of your weapons."

He looked down to Roxas and smiled. He brought his Shadow-blade down and sliced Roxas's arm.

"Ahh!" Roxas yelled. Without letting go of Oblivion blood began to flow down the keyblade to the floor.

"What's the matter Roxas, you were so full of questions earlier and now you've hardly said a word. Well… would you like to know why you're here."

"No…" Roxas spoke completely disregarding the immense pain that he was feeling in his right arm.

"Now I'm more interested in where 'here' is."

"Very well, I suppose I can answer that."

He rested his weapon on his left shoulder.

"You are behind the darkness." The figure spoke in monotone.

"Big deal, I'm not afraid of the dark…" Roxas refused to let his guard down.

"I'm afraid it isn't that simple. You see, when you are beyond the darkness you are no longer one with Sora, and you can only remain here when Sora is unconscious, which means…"

"…I can't leave until he regains consciousness…" Roxas finished his sentence.

"Correct."

"But that still doesn't explain _why_ I'm here, or who you are."

The figure brought his weapon away from its resting position and held it at arms length.

"Roxas…" The way he said his name made Roxas's skin crawl.

"I never said I would give you all the answers. You still have to defeat me. But keep in mind… without Sora, your own strength is reduced to half."

"Fine by me, I can still beat you."

Roxas released his grip on the handle of his weapon and spun the blade several times, finishing with a lunge towards his opponent.

A fierce battle broke out, and with only one keyblade in hand, Roxas was managing to stand his ground. The silver haired rival however, seemed less than entertained by the fight. With several swift movements, the figure managed to counter all of Roxas's attacks.

Without the help of Oathkeeper, Roxas was not as quick to counter or attack.

He managed to break through his opponent's defense and land a clean hit across his chest, breaking the chain that hung from his collar. The pieces of metal hitting the ground seemed to be the only source of sound, all other noise seemed to be smothered by the darkness, save the sounds of clashing weapons.

"That's one…" The figure stated as he quickly regained his balance after the hit.

"What?"

"One hit that you've managed to land since the fight began."

After a short pause Roxas's eyes were wide-open in shock; his mouth was open, crying out with pain. Before Roxas could see what had happened, the man in black had appeared instantaneously in front of him and implanted his weapon through his right shoulder causing him to simultaneously cry out in pain and release Oblivion from his clutches. The keyblade made a metallic clang as it collided with the ground while combining with Roxas's scream of pain. Roxas fell to his knees tightly holding his shoulder in an attempt to quell the bleeding and diminish the pain. Tears welled up in the corners of his eyes, but he refused to let them fall.

The figure lightly pressed the tip of his blade under Roxas's chin and brought his eyes up to meet his own. The figure moved various strands of blue hair away from his eyes. Roxas refused to look the figure directly in the eyes.

"Sora…" Roxas spoke desperately, "Please… wake up…"

--

"Roxas…" Sora mumbled to himself.

"Riku did you hear that? It sounds like he's dreaming of Roxas…"

Kairi and Riku were still sitting by Sora's side, as he lay unconscious on the cold tiled floor.

"I told you he was just sleeping."

"Well then don't you think we should try to wake him up?"

"We've already tried waking him up, and it didn't work."

"Well…why not just splash his face with cold water or something…"

"You wanna drown him, be my guest." Riku said as he gestured towards the sink.

--

Roxas was out of options, he was without one of his weapons and with his shoulder the way it was he could not even weald Oblivion.

"Finished already?" the pressure from the blade under his chin caused a drop of crimson blood to trace a path down the blade of darkness.

"It's true that nobodies are doomed to fade back into darkness…" Roxas looked up at the figure's face, which was no longer directed to Roxas's eyes. He was instead looking deep into the darkness surrounding them.

"But nobodies like you end up one step farther… you end up behind the darkness."

He raised his blade above his head in preparation to bring it down.

"Welcome to your new home, Roxas."

Roxas closed his eyes, preparing for his demise. The air around him seemed to get hotter, almost like fire…

"Shit!"

Roxas opened his eyes to see his enemy jumped backward to avoid the oncoming weapon that was hurled in his direction.

Roxas was becoming dizzy from the lack of blood, but he knew what he was seeing. It was a chakram; the red and silver weapon flew with great speed towards the target as the fire danced around the tips of the weapon.

The fire narrowly missed the figure's clothes as he dodged the attack. A second wheel of fire instantaneously came from the direction of the first; this was countered by the figures Shadow-blade.

The clash of weapons sent a barrage of sparks in the air, lighting up the room. Roxas was almost gone; he could no longer focus on what he was seeing.

The figure had once again disappeared into the darkness, leaving only Roxas… and the man who saved him.

Roxas was lying on his back as he felt the rhythmic vibrations through the ground as the new figure walked towards him. He could vaguely see the man crouch beside him. The only characteristic of the figure he could make out was the spiky red hair that stood out in the dark.

"Axel…" He could feel a smile forming on his face right before he faded away.

But contrary to the information of the figure, Roxas did not fade into darkness, but back into the light, back to where he belongs.

* * *

Well that was fun now wasnt it 3

Well I would stay here and chat with you, but right now I have ot eat breakfast and go to work, but like always thanks so much for reading, and reviews are always appreciated!

-Jenn


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